A Springfield man representing himself in Adams County Circuit Court claiming a prejudiced judiciary had his motion denied yesterday for a substitution of judge.
Muddy River News reports that 35 year old Bradley Yohn of Springfield was told by Judge Holly Henze that his motion for a substitution of judge away from Judge Roger Thomson was denied because he did not present enough burden of proof that Thomson would not be impartial in hearing his case. Yohn had argued that derogatory comments he had thrown at Thomson during a July 20th hearing would cause Thomson to be unfair towards him moving forward towards a scheduled jury trial on November 7th.
Henze says she believes Thomson who told Yohn that he did not hear his July 20th comments and that if he had heard the comments, it would not affect his impartiality from the bench. Yohn then called Thomson a liar and said that if anyone could produce the audio file from the July 20th hearing at any moment he would take a 100 year sentence for the crimes he is alleged of committing.
Henze went on to say that most of her colleagues on the bench were “thick skinned” and it doesn’t automatically qualify for a judge to be substituted in any case. Yohn then asked if he could get a fair and impartial trial in the county. Henze replied that it would have to be a separate motion to be filed and heard before Thomson at a later hearing.
Yohn’s case remains set for an omnibus hearing on October 12th with a final pre-trial setting scheduled for October 26th.
Yohn faces charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, two counts of felony theft, two counts of home invasion, aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon, residential burglary, and criminal sexual abuse. If convicted of any of the charges, Yohn faces up to natural life in prison.